Angry Copts at the Cathedral of St. Mark in Cairo claim that the military threw the bodies of dead protesters into the Nile during Sunday night’s clashes around Maspero.
A man in his fifties who identified himself as William told a group of people at the cathedral on Sunday that he was standing in front of the Maspero state TV building, which is next to the Nile, when he saw soldiers dispersing people from around the dead bodies of a number of protesters killed in the violence.
“In the beginning, I thought that they were just dispersing people from around the dead bodies, but later I was screaming at them after seeing them carting off the bodies and throwing them into the Nile,” William said.
William was speaking to journalists and others who had come to attend the protest. Some in the audience agreed, saying they had heard the same story from other eye-witnesses.
The reports are unverified as yet, but with an uncertain death toll and what appears to be a misinformation campaign from the state-owned media, the rumor seems to be gaining traction.
Later in the day, many at the cathedral began to ask each other if they had heard any further evidence to support the claims.
A Twitter user who identifies himself as Mohamed Elmoshir (@Elmoshir) wrote on Sunday night, “There were four dead bodies lying in the street. I tried with someone else to carry them away. The army chased us off. After five minutes I saw soldiers throwing the dead bodies in the Nile.”
